Beer: Reviews & Ratings

Pours out a clear medium-pale gold with a small but lasting head. Aroma consists of mostly hops--lightly earthy, with a faint fruitiness. Malt flavor is subdued, a little grainy, lightly toasted, but bitterness is on the high side compared to most Wychwood beers. Hop flavor is dusty. Fruity ale character is apparent. Body is a tad thin.

A nice uncomplicated English pale ale. I still prefer the Goliath, though. (417 characters)

500ml brown bottle from Ron's in Farmington. Translucent amber body with almost no head to speak of. Smells very hoppy - bitter and citrusy - with hints of malt. Tastes hoppy - somewhat citrusy and bitter - with some malt backbone. Flavor is a little more watery than one might expect. Still, what flavor there is a rather good. Mouthfeel is on the lighter side of medium-bodied, somewhat watery. Very drinkable. What flavor there is is impressive, but not as strong flavored as it could be. I could see myself having this one again. (533 characters)

Brew poured a nice copper gold color with a vanishing head and no lacing to speak of. There was a strong aroma of hops, some slight euro maltiness and esters. The taste was of flavorless and unidentifiable hops with a bready malt note and a bitter aftertaste, again with no flavor. Very watered down ale, with hardly any distinguishing flavors. Drinkable only because it is so inoffensive. (389 characters)

"I've got no defense for it
The heat is too intense for it
What good would common sense for it do
'Cause it's witchcraft, wicked witchcraft"

--Frank Sinatra

Pale apricot with golden delicious apple trim. The finely bubbled cap is a regal shade of ivory and is the most attractive part of this most attractive pale ale. It's a wonderful lace maker due to its inherent stickiness and is hanging around for quite a while as well. Does anyone have better looking, more high quality bottles and labels than Wychwood? I don't believe so. Note: given the tremendous display of lace once the beer falls with drinking, I'm going to give the appearance the score that it so richly deserves.

The nose is muskily fruity to the exclusion of all else. That's okay, pale ales aren't usually known for their multi-faceted depth and complexity. I love Styrian Goldings hops and would have loved it if they were more prominent. Perhaps they will be on the palate.

Wychcraft is a light, well-brewed English pale ale and is easily my favorite Wychwood beer to date. The use of 'lager malt', pilsener malt presumably, was a great choice. It gives the beer a lightly sweet, untoasted biscuity flavor that works very well with the hops. And it does wonders for the mouthfeel (see below).

Given the hop flavor--Styrian Goldings and Fuggles--and the malt-hop balance, it's obvious that this is an English pale and not an American one. Good. It's about time that we received some good, fresh, English pale ales in this country. The flavor profile consist of ripe, musky apricots and pears with a hint of citrus zest. The bitter-sweet balance is just right, in that it clearly favors the former.

The mouthfeel may be the best part about this ale. It's light and airy, yet whipped creamy and expansive. Whether those qualities have to do with the use of pils malt or whether they're simply the result of quality brewing, I couldn't say. Certainly the latter is true even if the former isn't. This is one of the more delicate ales (in terms of mouthfeel) that I've ever had.

Did Wychwood use witchcraft to brew Wychcraft? Quite possibly. How else to explain how it stands head and shoulders above the rest of their offerings? Anyone looking for a classic English pale ale could do worse than to start right here. (2,309 characters)

Golden orange and surprisingly clear, the ale had a white finely bubbled head that struggled to last the glass.
The smell was all hoppy and fruit maybe a little of the citrus the label states is there.
The taste is a bit one dimensional All hoppy bitterness very little malty balance and no detectable hop fruit.
Overall a bit disappointing.
Clean and sharp but a little bit boring for me (392 characters)

The beer poured into the glass clear pale golden with an off-white low and frothy head which lasted well to lace the glass.

The aroma was mineral in character with a lightly floral and lightly spicy hop presence. Some caramel malt was notable in the aroma which has a pleasantly yet low ester profile.

The flavor was mineral with a strong presence of tin. The bittering was substantial and overshadowed anything the malt though about bringing to the table. The flavor began to show a smidge of caramel as the beer warmed and the fruity nature of an English Bitter slightly emerged with the temperature rise. Also as the beer warmed some grassy hop flavor became apparent.

The finish was dry with a lasting tinny bittering into the aftertaste. The body was medium light and a bit on the watery side with a moderate level of carbonation. This one might be a dream on cask, but was just kinda ho hum out of the bottle and very much a session beer. Love the name however!

Pours transparent gold with an inch of foamy off-white head that dissipates quickly to a film and very good lace. In the nose, the beer is dominated by herbal bitter hop notes and mild toasted malts. Strongly hopped flavor for an English pale ale. Light malts lead the way, and are quickly followed by bitter herbal hops. The finish is medium-dry with touches of toasted malt and vaguely unpleasant skunked notes. Body is very low in carbonation; creamy and easy-drinking but a bit thin and unsatisfying. Much fresher and better than the worst Wychwood beers (I'm looking at you Scarecrow). Not a standard-setter by any means, however. (706 characters)

"Thrice hopped" per label,poured a nice medium clear golden with a well formed but quick to vanish bone white head.Muted aromas toasty malt and a little caramel biscuit with a hint of "green" hop,more subtle but very pleasant flavors lightly sweet and biscuity up front with a nice drying herbal lingering finish and I mean it lingers I noticed a little medicinal quality as well.I lighter EPA with good flavor packed into it its a quaffer no doubt,I recommend it. (464 characters)

Pours a light gold with brilliant clarity and a firm frothy white head. Aroma is very light, some toasty pale malts and a hint of hops.

Taste is light pale malt and a nice, golden hop bitterness. Very light and biscuity flavors but with a good, lightly bitter hop flavor. An overall balance between earthy dry and butter sweetness, very mild.

Mouthfeel is light and very smooth. This may not bring a power punch to the flavor but this is a delightfully balanced and delicate beer. I would gladly session this over and over. (529 characters)

A fair brew, nothing exciting, nothing too boring. Pours a rusty, clear color with some head, little lacing. Smells lightly hoppy and malty, not much there though. Tastes a bit like Bass, more biscuity and bready. Mouthfeel is bubbly enough but a little on the thin side. Quite drinkable, really refreshing. A great session brew, but a bit pricy. I'd probably pick Bass over this unless the price lowered. (405 characters)

Comes in a pretty cool lookin bottle with elves and imps and english forest stuff. The beer pours clear and light amber with little head and some white lacing.
Smells uninteresting, kinda "beery" if you will. A bit of herbal hop is in there and a bit of malt sweetness.
The flavor is very biscuity and bready with a tart mouth drying effect. Rye crackers comes to mind. The use of hops is nice in this; elegant, even... much more of a background bass note than an upfront assault. This is pretty easy to drink all by itself but would still be able to stand up to a solid meal pretty well.
Three bucks for a half liter makes this not so great of a deal; for the money I'm more likely to pick up a Bass, but this is solid stuff. (729 characters)

Clear and orange, a big head that goes away real quick. Nose is surprisingly more malty than hoppy. Has some alcohol, spice, and apple as well. The taste has more hops than the nose, but otherwise mimicks the nose. Additional sourness, with a slight green hops finish. Has a crisp mouthfeel. (291 characters)

500 ml bottle with great image and packaging. I like the shape and feel of the bottle in my hand. The label says that this is a thrice hopped golden ale. I was different than most of the other Wychwood ales, except Scarecrow, being that it was lighter and easier to drink. I like the ligh mouthfeel, but you still feel and taste that typical English maltiness. This beer will be easier for most people to drink due to it's lighness. It was not overly hoppy, but pleasent. I likes the light malt flavor. The smell was clean and balanced, plus I did like to golden color of tye beer in my Hobgoblin glass.It was not my favorite Wychwood beer, but I would definately buy it again. (677 characters)

Recommended by a Marrika's bartender. It took one sip to agree that this guy knew what he was talking about. This is one terrific beer. A solid English Pale malt brew with emphasis on orange and appricot flavors and aromas. A series of healty hoppings of English hops lends a supurb balance, juicy fruit flavors, and appealing earthy aromas. Ripe and fresh flavors and aroma abound. Medium feel and remains firm throughout. Finishes with a nice blend of fruity sweetness and hop flavor / bittering. A true English IPA and the best beer that Wychwood makes. (556 characters)

A lovely example of the style. Poured a clear golden straw colour with a pure white foamy head that lasted about 40 seconds. Smell was very mild botanical, dry earth, and faint malts. Everything was very gentle, and this seemed to carry over into the taste, as well. Finish was a nice pleasant dryness. A tiny bit biscuity, and definately bitter. I simply love the English style ales such as this, and this is a wonderful example of the style. I could drink this al day long. Great name and great lable, too. (508 characters)

Pours to a bright copper color with thick white head that lingers throughout, and slowly diminishes to a white foam cap with excellent lacing. Aroma is very hoppy, with some citrus, but not real strong. Flavor is very tasty at first, but fades in later sips, for this thin bodied beer. The finish is bitter, as expected with this much hops, but there is neither malt nor alcohol to help temper this, and so the finish is not what it could be. Not bad..not great. (462 characters)

A - Pours a clear light amber with a tight foamy white head. This disappears quite quickly and leaves a ring and thin island. Small bubbles of low carbonation slowly rise.

S - Citrus, bready malt, Danish pastry.

T - Takes a couple of seconds for the flavours to come out, then the citrus appears before the sweet bready malts push through and coat the mouth. The hops reappear with a more floral flavour this time. Finishes mildly bitter/sweet with the aftertaste sticking around faintly in the background for a while.

M - Light-medium body and soft, tingling carbonation.

D - Above average, but nothing interesting enough to make me want to revisit it any time soon. (679 characters)

Obtained at the Tesco supermarket in Southeast London.
BB 09/01/07. Served cool in a straight imperial pint glass.

A: dark golden colour with orangey hues, coming with an effervescent, thick and creamy white beer head with good retention; gently-ascending medium-sized bubbles detected.
S: mixed fruity aroma of sweet orange-citrus+pears on top of a bready as well as candyish maltiness and profound hoppyness of Styrian Goldings. The label says it's undergone "three-infusions" of Styria Goldings and that process definitely leaves its mark. Overall it's rich but a touch too sweet for me.
T: floral, mildly citrussy and lightly spicy edges of Goldings dominate the palate (the stark floral hint is even a bit like First Gold hops), on top of lots of flowery flavour and a chewy but soft maltiness, leading towards a vegetation-like and floral bitter-sweetness in the lightly dryish hoppy and bitter finish.
M&D: pretty lively on the mouthfeel throughout, though I'd say it's a touch too fizzy for a mild-flavoured English ale; however, the texture does benefit from the ending touch of soft bitterness and plenty of hops, thus making this a rather light, refreshing bitter to quaff. Not that interesting and exciting, though. (1,235 characters)